Public Museum, Grand Rapids

Be a bird in flight, then a salmon at the bottom of the river. Sneak up on deer. Spy on noisy crows in a cornfield. Gaze over the top of a sand dune at Lake Michigan. Shrink yourself and take a startling, close look at what’s on the forest floor!

This is Habitats, a large, meandering exhibit that transports young and old alike through the natural environments of Michigan. The life-like exhibits of mounted animals and plants in their natural settings must be seen to be believed.

• Dioramas with light, sound, images and hands-on activities that kids can use to learn about fish in Lake Michigan, microscopic life in a drop of marsh water, fragile sand dune, wetland, and woods ecosystems and the impact of the lifestyle choices humans make that affect the natural environment.
• The Kent Scientific Institute room is a re-creation of the Public Museum’s exhibit hall before 1900, with huge shells, fossils, minerals and exotic animal skeletons, including a mastodon replica in a Victorian period setting.